Case Study: Exploding Bench & Overhead Press Numbers on An Underweight Male

So this case study is not meant to be read as any sort of authoritative, declarative, or definitive statement on “Bench & Press Training for the Underweight Male.”   Instead, this article should be taken for what it is – a case study of a single individual who is training with extraordinary results using a specified set of methods.

The fact is that many of you may try these methods and not see the same results that Jackson is seeing.  You may have far better progress using the exact set of programming methods that were NOT working for Jackson in the months leading up to his sudden leap forward.

Jackson is a hardgainer to say the least.  He’s young (24), he’s got a naturally fast metabolism, he’s busy as hell (a student at one of the top law schools in the country), and he admittedly does not do everything possible outside of the gym to ensure he’s recovering and growing.

Probably like a lot of you.

Most of the time, for a guy that fits this mold, I’m going to prescribe a program for the Bench and Press that is fairly high in frequency and total volume.  Most of the time, it’d be something like Benching on Monday & Friday and Pressing on Wednesday or Wednesday & Saturday.  Sets and reps vary with the individual, but in general with the underweight genetically average young guy I lean towards a program that favors volume.  Heavier guys, guys who have been training for many years, and those with better genetics tend to be able to “do more with less” in my observation.

So often my early intermediate program is some flavor of Heavy-Light-Medium programming that allows me to jack up volume and frequency without burning my client out, but in this instance with Jackson, he just wasn’t responding well to this type of programming.  We played around with myriad variations of set, rep, and intensity combinations, but his “slow and steady” progression, was a little too slow and steady for my taste, so we tried a different approach.

I cut his frequency way back.  Once per week for the Bench.  Once per week for the Press.

I jacked up his per session volume.

I varied his exercise selection up, a lot.

So basically I gave him a routine that was straight out of my KSC Method for Power-Building Program.

Monday we Bench Press.  We run in 3 week cycles, between sets of 8 in week 1,  sets of 5 in week 2, and sets of 2 in week 3.  We do 3 work sets.  On the last set each week, I have him squeeze out any extra reps if they are available.  I have been using my 852 Program for many years with my clients and it rarely lets me down, although it’s usually not my immediate “go to” for an underweight, early intermediate.  But in this case it worked well.

After the Bench Press we go into Incline Pressing.  On the 8s week, we do Dumbbell Incline Presses for sets of 8-12 reps.  3 work sets after warm up.  On the 5s and 2s week we do Barbell Incline Presses for 3 work sets.  On the 5s week, we do 3 sets of 6-8 reps.  On the 2s week we do 3 descending sets.  Set 1 is for 3-5 reps,  Set 2 is for 5-7 reps,   Set 3 is for 8-12 reps.

After the Bench & Incline Presses, we give the Chest and Triceps a brief rest while we knock out 3 sets of heavy barbell or dumbbell curls.  We alternate weekly which we start with, usually 3 sets of 6-8 reps.  Then we finish the workout with a super set of Weighted Dips in the 10-15 rep range (he’s really good at Dips) and either barbell or dumbbell curls for sets of 10-12 reps (the inverse of whichever we started with).

• Bench Press 3 x 8 / 3 x 5 / 3 x 2 (alternate weekly)
• DB or BB Incline Press 3 x 8-12 / 3 x 6-8 / 3 x 3-5, 5-7, 8-12
• Heavy Barbell or Dumbbell Curls 3 x 6-8
• Weighted Dips 3 x 10-15
• Barbell or Dumbbell Curls 3 x 10-12 (superset with Dips)

On Thursday we Press.  Same protocol as the Bench Press (sets of 8, 5, or 2).

We follow the Press with 3 work sets of Close Grip Bench Press in the 8-10 range.  After the Close Grips we move into Seated Dumbbell Presses for 3 work sets in the 8-12 range.  We’ve played with Seated Dumbbell Presses performed before the Close Grips (how I’d normally program this) but for him we get more out of both lifts with this sequence.  I don’t ask too many questions – I just observe and follow trends.

After the DB work we move into an isolation tricep exercise.  Most of the time this is a Lying Tricep Extension with an EZ Curl Bar.  If he has a week where he stalls then I switch the exercise out for 2-3 weeks with a Cable Tricep Pressdown or an Overhead Extension with a single dumbbell.  Then we get back to the LTE as I find this is probably the most effective all around isolation tricep movement.

If we have time, we finish with 3 sets of Bodyweight Dips to failure.  Being light, the kid can Dip all day.  I’d say we do these 50% of the time and the other 50% we skip them due to time limitations or because he’s just simply smoked.

• Press 3 x 8 / 3 x 5 / 3 x 2
• Close Grip Bench 3 x 8-10
• Seated DB Press 3 x 8-12
• Lying Tricep Extension 3 x 8-12
• Bodyweight Dips 3 x max (optional)

Following this protocol his Bench and Press have exploded and continue to explode week to week, and so has his physique.  Noticeably bigger chest, shoulders, and arms.

If you are interested in learning more about this style of programming, I’d encourage you to pick up a copy of my KSC Method for Power Building.  Inside I lay out the details of 852 programming, setting up a Power Building style training split, and organizing an assistance exercise template.

Again, I’m not saying this programming example will work for you.  It might not be right for you.  But it might.

Don’t get wrapped up in the details and minutia but instead see the broader point of the case study which is to try something new if what you are doing is not working.  I’m not a fan of program hopping every few weeks.  But if you are giving a certain style of training a good honest effort for 8-12 weeks or so and progress is minimal or non-existent…….change.